The men we love
by Trace Reading
Summary: Kunoichi reflect on the men in their lives.  One-shot.


If, ten years ago, you had asked Sakura who she planned on marrying, Chouji Akimichi would not have been on the list. Then again, Sakura Haruno was a stupid girl who couldn't see the sort of person that Chouji was. Sakura Akimichi on the other hand knows exactly who her husband is and wouldn't trade him for anyone, not even a gold-plated Sasuke Uchiha. She has confessed love before, first to Sasuke and later, in the opening moves of the Last Ninja War, to Naruto. As has been established, Sakura Haruno was stupid.

It isn't to say that things with Chouji are perfect; far from it. She fights with him sometimes, usually playfully, sometimes seriously over things both important and petty. Their love developed on the battlefield, amidst blood and smoke and chaos, amidst the uncertainty of tomorrow, and kind, gentle Chouji had latched onto firm, decisive Sakura and together they helped each other through the worst stages of the conflict. It had been a snap decision, not wanting to face a tomorrow that they weren't guaranteed to have all alone, and so with a few blessings had been married during a lull in the action.

The war had ended a year after that and they had their first big fight—Chouji had wanted to divorce her, thinking (wrongly) that he'd somehow pressured Sakura into being with him. Sakura had put an end to that argument with her fist against his cheek, so close to having knocked him silly, and while Chouji was still recovering from his shock she'd kissed him like she'd always dreamed of doing to a certain Uchiha.

In that moment they had both realized that her feelings for her old teammate was gone; she still held enough fondness for Naruto—who had blessed their marriage and wished them nothing but happiness the moment he'd found out about it—to name her first daughter after his mother, but in Sakura's eyes, there was no man more deserving of her affection and love than Chouji. He knows as does his wife that they will experience difficulties sometimes, but each time that their bond is tested, his mind recalls the words he said to her on the battlefield.

"No matter what happens, we'll work through it together. That is my promise as a man." And each time he reminds her of that, Sakura sees in her man the brave soul who charged in to rescue her medical team from a series of traps, who charged in to rescue _her_, despite the risks and despite the reprimand he'd received from his squad leader. After that they'd started seeing each other as often as possible, and they had fallen into each others' arms for comfort and companionship when their mutual friend Ino had died on a routine patrol.

Their second child is going to be named for that friend they've lost, and in so doing had brought them together. It is only fair that she be remembered. Sakura still cries at night, sometimes, when she thinks of all the time that she and Ino had spent together, all the joys they'd shared, and each time Chouji is there with her, her rock in the storm, the gentle harbor to soothe her sorrows.

And in those moments Sakura knows she made the right choice staying with him at war's end.

* * *

><p>Hinata loves her husband deeply. It is somewhat surprising to her that this is so, from time to time, given that he is the laziest man on Earth, and despite his faults she finds herself loving him anyway. That, she thinks, is the true measure of love. For a long time she had been painfully devoted to only a single man, an ideal that she realized didn't match the reality; Naruto was many things to her—inspiration foremost amongst them—but it didn't take long for her to realize that he wasn't really marriage material. Not for her at least.<p>

Shikamaru often asks her what made her choose him, and so far she still hasn't come up with an answer. So far though she hasn't had a single regret over her decision; it doesn't bother her that she's not as smart as him, that she doesn't enjoy quite the same things. They have more in common than they have differences, and for Hinata that is enough to warrant trying, to warrant doing her best to make him happy. So far, she thinks she's done a good job.

Except for the triplets thing, but he can hardly blame her for that. As troublesome as he claims it to be taking care of three children when he only wanted two, preferably spaced a few years apart, Shikamaru dotes on his boys all the same, despite his professed laziness. He'll never say it to anyone but he's quite proud of the boys, and proud of Hinata. She knows as well as he does that these boys are the future of ninja, together with Asuma's daughter, the crimson-eyed girl that they look at like an older sister. Hinata doesn't doubt that Shikamaru loves her, even if he never says it in front of other people. Theirs is a private love, a subtle, easy one that isn't exciting or anything similar; the Nara matron can say, however, that the love she shares with Shikamaru is _fulfilling_ in a way she never expected to experience in her life. As lackadaisical as her lover is, he knows how to make her feel like a woman, how to say the right word at the right time to pick her spirits up and make her feel wanted.

Hinata is not jealous of Kurenai for the attentions that Shikamaru pays to the older woman; it was a man's promise between master and student, after all, and she loves her former teacher like a mother herself. For the life of them, though, neither husband nor wife can remember how they ended up together. They're as opposite as night and day sometimes, but even so they don't want to be apart any longer than they have to be. After all, every light casts a shadow and where one is the other can't be far behind. And that's how they like it.

* * *

><p>Temari is madly in love, and most would put a strong emphasis on the 'mad' portion of that statement. Her relationship with the man she calls 'mate', for Inuzuka don't really marry in the traditional sense, is somewhat of an odd one; they aren't legally married but often share a bed, a house and responsibilities, and she's as free to see other men as Kiba is to see other women. That they don't, however, is somewhat telling of how loyal they are to each other, how tightly knit they are even when the frequent disputes are taken into account.<p>

Maybe it's how he never takes no for an answer. Maybe it has to do with the way that he touches her in their all-too-frequent moments of intimacy. Maybe it's because of Akamaru—the mutt was as handsome to her as the other mutt that she sleeps with. Whatever the reasoning behind it, Temari does her best to find every excuse to be in Konoha and with Kiba as she can. She still wears the hitai-ite they issued to her at the start of the Last War (she hopes that name will stick), the one that has no village emblem on it, when she's inside the walls of the Hidden Leaf. Temari wears it proudly, forever reminding those who might chafe at her presence that for a time there were no villages, were no rivalries, only shinobi.

Kiba doesn't wear any hitai-ite anymore; not that that ever stops him from trying to go on missions anyway. Even with the specter of war behind them, there are still conflicts, disputes to resolve, bandits to beat down and they're often together on those tasks, even if he is missing an arm. Maybe that's why she loves him, that never-say-die attitude that he shares with a certain blond knucklehead. Said blond frequently asks when she's going to be a permanent resident. Kiba never does, as he knows. Whenever he needs her, she's there waiting for him, and whenever she needs him Kiba is right at her side, standing tall with her.

They're an odd pair, in the eyes of most, and that doesn't even take into account the way they fight over everything: Temari is smart and calculating and Kiba, while not necessarily _stupid_, doesn't often think things through and acts on what he believes is the best course of action. In essence, they balance each other out, reconciling the accounts of logic and emotion perfectly. Whenever his brashness gets him into trouble she's there to bail him out, and whenever her cold precision isn't enough, his fire gets her going.

Someday soon she is going to make her choice, whether to finally marry him as has long been his desire, or to give him the final freedom to be the Inuzuka clan head—it all hinges on the results of her next visit to the hospital. No matter the outcome, though, she loves him dearly, and will always be near.

* * *

><p>Tsunade loves him like a son, and that is what hurts her because his days are numbered, as are her own. The threat is over and yet she still fears for his life as she had practically every moment he was on the front lines, dueling with the endless forces of the enemy alongside B and Gaara and everyone else that he had taken up the burden of protecting. She sees it in his eyes sometimes, how tired he is, how utterly weary, and her heart breaks for him, and Tsunade takes some time every so often to shed the tears that she knows her cousin never will.<p>

As young as she keeps her body it would have been easy to give Naruto the family he needed to keep going, to give him a reason to live beyond protecting his precious people. Her duties as Hokage prevent such a thing, and the age difference—chronologically if not physically—turned her many efforts to do this in secret into a lesson in futility. She knows he is jealous, and how sometimes he sits up on the monument cursing his own indecisive nature. Konoha is Naruto's reason for existing and Naruto is Tsunade's reason for living; if one falls the rest will follow. He is seen as a hero now, for which she is glad. Heroes can't save everyone, however, and he's taken to his sensei's habit like a drug.

Rumors fly that he's involved with Anko, or that he's dating that cryptologist; there's even wild speculation that he's actually married to the Mizukage and working to restore Kiri to a ninja village that can be respected, not feared. None of it is true. Naruto is as alone as the day he was born, save for a few people. Tsunade is glad for Naruto's team, for his friends, as they are helping keep the darkness in his heart at bay. When he's not teaching them or leading them on missions, Naruto stays with Tsunade; he doesn't bother to hide his cough then, or the fatigue that's getting worse by the day. He looks at the hat with sadness, knowing that he'll never get to wear it. He wants to live long enough to teach his friend's daughter, and is fully aware that he'll never get the chance. The Uzumaki and Namikaze clan techniques are written down in the Forbidden Scroll, and the Toad contract rests in the Hokage's vault; Tsunade hopes that someday someone will reawaken them, though not for war.

She tends to her cousin frequently, staving off the sickness that gnaws at his soul and thus his body as best she can. He loves all of his friends, is happy for their little triumphs, their families. Tsunade wishes fervently that someone could love Naruto the way she does, to give him that comfort and companionship that has been lacking in his life. She'd gladly give up the hat and be with him if only he would just ask and the realization that he never will, because he fought so hard to get her there in the first place, and that understanding makes Tsunade want to follow him to the grave, which she knows will be soon.

His lady friends have volunteered, of course, but he never takes them up on the offers. It seems a shame that the village should lose such a shining beacon of hope, but Tsunade remembers everything that he's accomplished, and feels a sense of satisfaction, however resigned it may be. Sometimes she wonders if he feels the same thing, that his life, despite the hardships involved, has been a good one. And this time as she contemplates it, she decides one thing above all the many decisions she is faced with on a daily basis.

Just once, she is going to take a gamble and give him the love he deserves to be shown. The Legendary Sucker is going to gamble one more time and this time she feels that she can't lose.


End file.
